Dublin Airport’s operator DAA said it was carrying out an internal review on Monday after an incident in which a man without a boarding pass “barged past” Aer Lingus staff and boarded a flight.
Aer Lingus said the 40-year-old man pushed his way through the airline’s boarding agents at the gate when he tried to board a 7.05am flight to Birmingham.
He then passed the crew at the door of the aircraft before taking his seat on board.
The airport police was immediately informed about the incident and the man was later removed.
He had managed to get through security at Terminal 2 without relevant flight route documentation, reports RTE.
The incident was reported by today’s Irish Independent.
In a statement, DAA said he took note of the “speedy” apprehension of the man, who was detained by Gardaí after being ejected from the aircraft.
They were later charged with trespassing and appeared before the criminal courts yesterday.
“We note the speedy apprehension of the individual in this case by Airport Police, who was caught trespassing without a boarding card after being security screened, and his subsequent arrest by An Garda Síochána and successful prosecution before the courts,” daa said, reports RTE.
An airport safety and security reviewer said that as a result of the incident, there could be a further increase in the number of random spot checks.
Retired Air Corps Lt. Col. Kevin Byrne said he was “astounded” that the man was able to fly through the security gates.
“I’m still concerned as to how he got as far as the boarding gate and had the intention of getting on the aircraft. You don’t know what kind of equipment they’re carrying. What their intention might be,” he said, reports RTE.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne, Mr Byrne said there are major rules and regulations that need to be followed in order to be able to move from landside to airside areas of the airport.
“We cannot afford to have these types of security breaches,” Mr Byrne said, reports RTE.
Tell us your thoughts in the Facebook post and share this with your friends.